At the beginning of last year, I made my first visit to Circle B Bar Reserve near Winter Haven. It was a misty, cool morning, and I was mesmerized by the spiderwebs that were made visible by the dewdrops that clung to them. At the time, I created a post about the webs and spiders that I encountered.

My second visit a few days later was just as magical. After a long day at work, an evening in nature was just what I needed. When I first arrived, the sky was still bright blue, and the birds were out in abundance.

As opposed to my zoomed-in perspective of the swamp’s spiders on my first visit, this time I took some time to enjoy the overall landscapes as the setting sun started to engulf everything in a golden glow.

Along a path by a large pond, I had my first alligator encounter of the evening.

As the sun sank below the horizon, I had another gator sighting.

The sky put on a pretty incredible show as I finished the trail.

Adding to the magic was my first (live) armadillo sighting as I made my way along the last stretch of the path in the descending darkness. The evening was more proof that Florida is a magical place.